Too many founders come up with a great idea and start moving on it right away. This is almost always a mistake!
When you have a great idea, you will first want to think about who the customer is. Even better, think of a customer, and talk to them about their problems. We do this because ideas are cheap and easy to come up with. It is almost always true that the hard part of a SaaS is getting in front of the right people.
This is critical because talking to the right people means you can communicate with your potential customers. Communicating with people is the first step in acquiring customers. Communicating with people lets you learn about their problems. Communicating with people lets you learn if your idea is good.
Customer communication is the core activity that most founders skip and leads to a ton of issues at every step down the road. Don’t fall into this extremely common trap!
Your ideal customer profile describes who you think your customer is. This typically includes details like gender, age, profession, and family structure. In addition to these general details, you ideally want to know specifics about common problems they are experiencing. These are the most likely areas you can address for them that will make an impact.
In addition to demographic information, you will want to know where these people hang out. This could be online in Facebook groups, TikTok, or Twitter, or offline at trade shows. Also consider if they frequently look at offline media, newspapers, or magazines.
The better you are at rubbing shoulders with your prospects, physically or digitally, the greater success you will have with connecting with prospects, communicating the problem you solve, and gaining new customers.